AstraZeneca India together with Plan India, an NGO striving to improve the lives of millions of children and young people, announced the expansion of their flagship CSR initiative, Young Health Program by opening 3 Health Information Centres (HIC) in Delhi across the communities of Sangam Vihar and Dakshin Puri. The flag-off event organised at The India Habitat Centre saw participation by senior dignitaries from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Directorate of Family Welfare, NCD Cell, MCD North, beneficiaries from the multiple under-resourced communities, Plan India and AstraZeneca India.

‘Young Health Programme’ aims to reduce the growing burden of non-communicable diseases on health systems with a focused approach to bring about a behaviour change specifically amongst youth from 10-24 years of age. Present at the expansion program, Dr Zoya Ali Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner, MOHFW, Govt of India, said, “It’s high time to focus more on NCDs as it’s a grim reality that the burden of NCDs on India is long-lasting given that more than 65% of the individuals suffering from NCDs are in the most productive life age groups i.e., between 26-59 years. Healthcare initiatives like YHP, undertaken at a community level, contribute significantly to arrest this trend and to provide equitable access to healthcare to people”.

The announcement was accompanied by a theatrical presentation of the positive effects of the programme work in the communities of Bawana, Holambikalan, and Badarpur in Delhi over the past decade. A group of about 15 beneficiaries, peer educators and youth from the grass root communities recreated an engagement tool that is used to draw attention to the cause and raise awareness on the ground.

On the occasion, Gagandeep Singh, Managing Director AstraZeneca India said, “The launch of YHP in Delhi a decade back marked the vantage point for our global community investment initiatives in India, focused on empowering and sensitizing youngsters to be able to make healthier choices. With about 21 HICs now across Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, we aim to continue delivering accurate health information and encourage adoption of healthy practices amongst the youth. We are extremely thankful to the health authorities and our partners who have been with us on this journey to lay a strong foundation of this program in the country”.